JOIN USOf grit, fight and a lasting legacy, the Roy Krishna story
"Just never give up," says Roy Krishna. He says it time and again, a mantra. It's how Krishna plays his football, a bundle of energy chasing down lost causes. It's also how he lives his life.
So far, it has got him 41 goals and 22 assists in 77 Indian Super League games, top scorer trophies in A-League and ISL, trophies in New Zealand and India, the honour of becoming the first to score for Fiji at the Olympics and his nation's top scorer and more. Lately, it has been a reason for Bengaluru FC's change in fortunes.
Also Read: ISL final to be played at Margao on March 18
With five goals and four assists, Krishna has dragged the team into an improbable playoff spot. When they take on FC Goa at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday, it's with the hope of securing home advantage for the knockout clash.
His records are there to see, but it's the unseen that gives his career gravitas. How do you calculate the responsibility of carrying the flag of a region on one's shoulders? If there was a method, whatever the metric, Krishna has done an admirable job. He is to Fiji football, what Sunil Chhetri is to India. A talisman, a role model.
But throw that suggestion at him and he swats it aside.
"No bhai," he says with a smile. "I'm a normal kid from a village. I go on the roadside, drink chai... just a normal person."
It's not common knowledge but Krishna did not become a professional footballer till he was 26.
"During my time (as a child), there were hardly any grassroots programmes (in Fiji). I played in the mud, grass, and rice fields. You put two posts and play," he says, recounting his journey.
"A club (scout) came to watch another player when I was playing in Fiji. I did well in the game and he took me. I came to New Zealand on an amateur contract, played football and coached kids part-time. I knew it will be hard to get A-League clubs to believe in a player from Oceania. So I waited."
Krishna gave multiple trials but his opportunity came when a striker at Wellington Phoenix, an A-League side, got injured. Krishna took the three-month contract and soon earned a two-year deal as he lit up the league.
"I just never give up," he says again.
And once he made it, he knew his career was bigger than him and his family. It drove him to excel in the biggest league in that part of the world.
"I wanted to do well not just for Fiji but for Oceania. I have this responsibility to do well for the kids back home," he admits.
The Oceania region, with multiple island countries, has never been seen as a football hotbed.
"Islanders, sometimes, we need a bit of love. We don't want to get out of our comfort zone and pursue a career."
Krishna himself rejected moves to PSV Eindhoven and Derby County, although the latter was complicated by the work permit.
"I was told there is a club, you want to go? I was scared to go alone. I was a normal kid. If someone had pushed me, I would have gone. This is the mindset I want to change in the islands. To say we are behind you and go for it," he admits.
"I am trying to do well overseas so that agents and clubs believe in Oceania players - from Cook Island, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Fiji... People don't think islanders have the capability for football. Agents look at the other side of the world. This, I want to change," he admits.
And so far, he's done just that!